1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to monitoring systems and, more specifically, to methods and apparatus for monitoring air delivery systems, including air conditioning and heating systems, and relates also to systems for assuring the quality of inside air in buildings and other structures.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following comments are offered by way of background.
Dirty air systems cause or are associated with many problems such as:
High employee absenteeism and loss of productivity due to colds, flue, itchy eyes, skin rashes, respiratory problems, and the like, all the way to serious illnesses such as legionella, pathogenic virus, and more.
Fungus growing in ductwork can corrode microcomponents and metal surfaces on delicate instruments, crash computer heads, cause failures in electronic phone equipment, contaminate laboratory work, and more,
Become a serious fire hazard. Particularly when fire dampers and other mechanisms within the system malfunction, PA1 Create unsightly grilles and diffusers, ceiling tiles, generally dirty appearance, requiring costly maintenance, PA1 Cause rapid deterioration of soft furnishings such as drapes, carpet and upholstery, PA1 Increase energy costs due to lower performance levels, and/or PA1 Create air flow problems such as lack of air, hot or cold spots and make it impossible to balance a system properly or achieve proper temperature, and decrease equipment life and increase related maintenance problems. PA1 Could some areas be dirty while others are clean, yet you paid for cleaning the entire system? PA1 Has cause and effect been established so the customer can be guaranteed that cleaning of the system will accomplish the desired goals? PA1 Are the ducts truly clean or is the bacteria level still unacceptable for the building's environment? PA1 Have pre/post conditions and findings been documented so the customer has proof and a permanent management tool?
The need for a clean system has become obvious to most building owners and managers in recent years. What has NOT become obvious is how to do it!
Some contractors have made a good living from the fact that most people cannot visually inspect their ductwork. Major cleaning contracts have been awarded solely on the fact of dirty grilles and diffusers. Unanswered questions such as the following can be costly and dangerous:
How much of the visible dirt is due to a venturi effect, and not dirty ducting?
In an effort to counter these problems chunks of contaminants have been removed from duct work and have been subjected to analyses for asbestos, fiberglass, rust, particulate content, etc. In practice, however, such a procedure was complicated and difficult to perform and to implement on a regular basis.
In a different vein, methods and means for microorganism analysis have been known for a long time, as may, for instance, be seen from U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,207, by Edward J. Poitras, for Filtration and Incubation Unit, issued Mar. 24, 1959 to Millipore Filter Corporation.